TechnoServe, in partnership with Kellogg’s Company, launched a program in 2015 to improve smallholder livelihoods in the Lambasi area of the Eastern Cape Province, which has the highest poverty levels in the country. The project seeks increase productivity of maize farmers in the area, as well as facilitating market connections and improve their resiliency to climate change.

Staple crops like maize, soy and bean can provide much more than just subsistence for smallholders, they can also increase income, create jobs and improve food security. The Storage and Proper Post-Harvest Improvements for Resource Efficiency (SAPPHIRE) program, funded by the DFID, worked to capitalize on the potential of maize and increase incomes for farmers through increasing productivity and improved aggregation.